Trans America Cycling Day 46 - Madison, FL to High Springs, FL
The link to today's route and statistics is found here.
There were herds of cattle along the rural roads, and in one field even Texas Longhorns.
We are getting closer to St. Augustine every day. St. Augustine is just south of Jacksonville.
Even
though today’s ride was long at 78 miles, it was not too
taxing. The cloud cover and trees along the route helped kept us cool,
and this part of Florida is quite flat.
The Suwannee River referred to in the photos below is the same river made famous by Stephen Foster in his 1851 (antebellum era about ten years before the start of the American Civil War) minstrel song title “Way Down Upon the Suwannee River,” also known as “Old Folks at Home.” Foster eliminated the “u” from Suwannee on purpose, because he thought that people would mispronounce it. The song was the best-selling sheet music of its time, and it is the official state song of Florida. Pretty impressive for a river that starts in the Okefenokee Swamp of southern Georgia and drains into the Gulf of Mexico. The song is on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_U61dDdY-c
Our wild animal entry for the day, "French Fry" the lonely Emu, lives in the pasture directly across from the Days Inn in Madison. The blog author found French Fry to be standoffish at first. However, after walking up to the recessed gate by the road, French Fry came up to within several yards distance for a photo op. The motel clerk says that people feed French Fry with, you guessed it, french fries from McDonald's, an eight iron shot away from the gate. French Fry used to play with the cows, but the clerk said the cows got irritated at French Fry, and now he/she is lonely.
The emu is the second largest bird in the world, second only to the ostrich. Emus have a hairlike appearance to their feathers. The height of an emu ranges from 1.5 to 1.9 metres (4.9 to 6.2 feet) and weight around 30 to 55 kilograms (66 to 121 pounds). French Fry appeared to be about average size for an Emu. Emus will eat a wide variety of plants depending on the season along with beetles, grasshoppers, fruit, crickets, ladybirds, lizards, ants, flowers, berries and grubs.
The Suwannee River referred to in the photos below is the same river made famous by Stephen Foster in his 1851 (antebellum era about ten years before the start of the American Civil War) minstrel song title “Way Down Upon the Suwannee River,” also known as “Old Folks at Home.” Foster eliminated the “u” from Suwannee on purpose, because he thought that people would mispronounce it. The song was the best-selling sheet music of its time, and it is the official state song of Florida. Pretty impressive for a river that starts in the Okefenokee Swamp of southern Georgia and drains into the Gulf of Mexico. The song is on YouTube at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_U61dDdY-c
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| Suwannee River |
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| Kayaking on the Suwannee |
Our wild animal entry for the day, "French Fry" the lonely Emu, lives in the pasture directly across from the Days Inn in Madison. The blog author found French Fry to be standoffish at first. However, after walking up to the recessed gate by the road, French Fry came up to within several yards distance for a photo op. The motel clerk says that people feed French Fry with, you guessed it, french fries from McDonald's, an eight iron shot away from the gate. French Fry used to play with the cows, but the clerk said the cows got irritated at French Fry, and now he/she is lonely.
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| "French Fry" the Emu asks for a few fries from your combo meal at Mickey D's |
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| Emu feathers appear hairlike |
The emu is the second largest bird in the world, second only to the ostrich. Emus have a hairlike appearance to their feathers. The height of an emu ranges from 1.5 to 1.9 metres (4.9 to 6.2 feet) and weight around 30 to 55 kilograms (66 to 121 pounds). French Fry appeared to be about average size for an Emu. Emus will eat a wide variety of plants depending on the season along with beetles, grasshoppers, fruit, crickets, ladybirds, lizards, ants, flowers, berries and grubs.
There were many beautiful houses along the route today.
Pine tree farming is important to the area that we passed through today. Business must be growing, because there were many farms with newly planted pine trees. Southern pines grow very tall and straight, so they are valuable for production of lumber.
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| Plantation style house with Live Oak trees |
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| Pastoral scene |
Pine tree farming is important to the area that we passed through today. Business must be growing, because there were many farms with newly planted pine trees. Southern pines grow very tall and straight, so they are valuable for production of lumber.
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| Orderly array of trees at a southern pine tree farm, like a military formation |
There were herds of cattle along the rural roads, and in one field even Texas Longhorns.
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| Longhorns are not commonly seen in Florida, but ours is not a common bicycle tour |
There were very large sections of the wildflowers alongside rural roads
today. There are still not the quantity or as many varieties of wildflowers in Florida as we saw in Texas, but the Florida wildflower display is gaining in strength.
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| Wildflower in phlox family |
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| Puffball in a field of phlox |
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| Cyclist enraptured with phlox |
We are getting closer to St. Augustine every day. St. Augustine is just south of Jacksonville.
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| Midway through the ride today a sign indicated that we are less than 100 miles from Jacksonville, and we are even closer to st. Augustine. We have traveled over 3000 miles to get to where we are today. |
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